DOCTOR STRANGE

Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence).

With a mischievous, metaphysical flourish, “Doctor Strange” administers some much-needed CPR to the flagging superhero genre. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel — a power-hungry villain (Mads Mikkelsen) tries to unleash hell on Earth, blah blah blah — but it’s a heck of a lot more fun than I’ve had at a Marvel movie lately. Plus, who could be more perfectly suited to the moniker than Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s always exuded strangeness?

Like Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne in “Batman Begins,” Dr. Stephen Strange comes by his powers on a pilgrimage to the East. An arrogant, wealthy surgeon whose hands are mangled in a car accident, he seeks healing from the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), leader of an order of martial-arts students as knowledgeable in string theory as swordsmanship. The initially snarky, Tony Stark-y Strange becomes a believer when A.O. smacks his “astral form” out of his physical form, sending him barreling through a trippy, interdimensional rabbit hole whose visuals recall Jodie Foster’s space journey in “Contact,” improved with up-to-the-minute technology. This is the rare film that earns its 3-D surcharge.

Equally splendid are director Scott Derrickson’s (“Sinister”) chase scenes, which make up for what they lack in plot inventiveness by mashing up the shifting cityscapes of “Inception” and the confounding visual loops of artist M.C. Escher.

On race and gender, “Doctor Strange” is not nearly as daring. Rachel McAdams is hamstrung as Strange’s gal Friday at the hospital, while the Kathmandu lair has only one speaking Asian character, Wong (Benedict Wong), whose main characteristic is that he refuses to laugh. Chiwetel Ejiofor, at least, gets a decently meaty role as Mordo, right-hand man to the Ancient One, tasked with keeping her overachieving student Strange in line.

And then there’s the long-brewing controversy over Swinton, whose character was originally an Asian man. A cursory glance at Hollywood’s whitewashing history makes this choice fairly indefensible, and yet: Swinton, who’s basically her own species, makes an excellent ageless mystic. That’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth. Also, it’s nice to see a little gender-swapping in the notoriously macho comics world (but then again, our doctor lead could just as easily have been a woman). I’m not complaining, though. Cumberbatch makes a funny, dashing addition to the Marvel pantheon, and his American accent is much better than it was in last year’s “Black Mass.” Clad in a cape with a mind of its own, a dimension-hopping ring, and a time-looping necklace, he’s the hero of choice for viewers who like their comics a little more cosmic.